Who is Quincy Pondexter?

One of my favorite things to do when watching young players and attempting to evaluate how good they are or how good they might be is to compare them to someone else who has already done what they are attempting to do. For instance, when I watch Oregon State’s Jacquizz Rodgers play, I see Warrick Dunn or when I see Spencer Hawes play, I see Vlade Divac.

I’ve been trying to figure out just who Quincy Pondexter reminds me of and as I was walking the dog this morning, it came to me.

Quincy Pondexter reminds me of Paul Pierce.

Obviously, Pondexter is far less accomplished than Pierce was at this point in his career (Pierce actually left Kansas after his junior year), but Pondexter has had to bide his time because of the guys ahead of him. However, he started coming into his own late last year and in the tournament and looks poised for a Pac 10 Player of the Year kind of campaign; and the way Pondexter is playing lately, he’s going to match or exceed what Pierce did at Kansa).

Production aside, the two just physically mirror each other. At Kansas, Pierce was 6’7 220. Pondexter is listed anywhere from 6’6 215 to 6’7 220 depending on where you look. Neither one relies upon superior athleticism to set themselves apart (although they can both rise up and crush the ball, it’s not like they’re Dwyane Wade or LeBron James). They are both broad, strong guys with long arms, that have very good midrange games. Both are effective when posting up and have good body control, even if they kind of look awkward from time to time. Pierce was and is a much better three-point shooter, but there is no reason why Pondexter can’t improve his own three-point percentage because he’s got a good-looking stroke. Statistically, Pierce was a better rebounder in college than Pondexter, but now that Jon Brockman has moved on, he will get his share (look no further than the San Jose State game for example).

I’m sure that if Pondexter could bank on being Pierce he’d jump at the chance. Pierce has had a very long, and outstanding NBA career thus far (minus the near-death stabbing thing, of course) and won a title in 2008 (with the help of Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen).

Here is a highlight reel of Pierce at Kansas, he was pretty damn impressive and it was insane that he went No. 10 in the draft that year (guys that went ahead of him: Michael Olowokandi (ugh); Mike Bibby (ok); Raef LaFrentz (his teammate); Antawn Jamison (fine); Vince Carter (fine); Robert Traylor (my god); Jason Williams (ok); Larry Hughes (wow); Dirk Nowitzki (awesome)).

Here are some random clips of Pondexter (not much out there, really):

What do you think of that comparison?

To the team itself, it has become apparent to me after just a few games that Tyreese Breshers is markedly better than MBA, and it’s not even close, really. He’s just a better basketball player, period. He’s more skilled, he’s more in control, and he simply has a much higher basketball IQ. Here is but one example of how he stays with a play, stays under control, takes advantage of his size, and uses the glass:

I’m not saying that MBA shouldn’t get playing time, because he should, but never at the expense of Breshers’s time. Plus, Breshers looks a lot like Ice Cube (but more than a foot taller), which is cool.

Further, I applaud Romar for getting his guys a lot of time (11 guys played, nine of them for more than 10 minutes in the San Jose State game) because that’s kind of what the preseason is for, but they do need to tighten things up because this can’t continue for the entire season. Guys need time to get in a rhythm and flow of the game and that can’t happen with the mass substitutions. I’m sure he’s just trying to get a feel for who plays well together and what combinations are best on the floor; but the rotation has to tighten and as a result, some guys are going to get left out in the cold and it’s possible that those guys might be Scott Suggs, Elston Turner, and Darnell Gant. But it’s still early and guys can still earn their way off or on the court. Also, you can just smell a transfer in their air can’t you if that rotation tightens up? I’m sure that Suggs would like to play more than he does and he probably deserves to because he does seem talented, but whom do you sit?

As of now, here is what looks to be the best group of players (AKA their “crunchtime lineup”):

Gaddy

Thomas

Pondexter

Trent or Holiday (I’ll need to see more of each but both bring a lot to the table)

Breshers

Regardless, this is a good, aggressive, scrappy team that has two established guys who can score (Thomas and Pondexter) with the possibility of another (Breshers) and a bunch of guys who can fill in and play roles.